FBI Not Sure Yet If Suspect In Sunday Bank Heist Was ‘Mummy Bandit’

The so-called "Mummy Bandit" robs a TCF Bank branch at at 4250 N. Lincoln Av. on April 7, 2013. The FBI has said a man with his face wrapped in tape has robbed at least five banks, but charges have only been filed in the April 7 heist. Erwin Acox, of the 5100 block of North Kimball Avenue, was charged in that robbery. (Credit: FBI)

CHICAGO (CBS) — A 39-year-old man has been charged with robbing a Lincoln Park bank with his face wrapped in tape, but federal authorities have not yet officially tied him to a string of bank robberies committed by the so-called “Mummy Bandit.”

Erwin Acox, of the 5100 block of North Kimball Avenue, has been charged with bank robbery after police arrested him with nearly $3,000 in cash in his pocket, and traced most of the money to a bank robbery at the TCF Bank branch at 4250 N. Lincoln, according to a criminal complaint.

However, FBI Special Agent Joan Hyde said Acox has been charged only with one robbery. Authorities have yet to determine if he was also responsible for four other bank robberies committed by the so-called “Mummy Bandit.”

Acox allegedly went into the TCF Bank branch inside a Jewel store in Lincoln Park on Sunday. His face was covered with

However, FBI Special Agent Joan Hyde said Acox is charged with only that robbery, and so far has not been linked to the four other bank robberies committed by the so-called “Mummy Bandit.”

According to the complaint, Acox entered the TCF Bank branch inside the Jewel grocery just after 10 a.m. on Sunday, and grabbed cash from a teller’s hand. He then demanded cash from the teller’s drawer. In total, he stole more than $2,700, according to the complaint.

Police questioned two witnesses from the bank who saw the robber in the parking lot as they left the store. Police had recently conducted surveillance on Acox, and when they showed a photo of the bank robber to an acquaintance of Acox, that person recognized the burgundy coat he was wearing during the heist.

Officers later spotted Acox riding a bike near his home and questioned him. They spotted a knife in his pocket, and when he was arrested, police found $2,886 in cash in his pockets, including bills from the bank robbery.

The FBI has not been able to determine if Acox is the same man who also robbed North Community Bank branches at 2000 W. Division St. on March 5; 4701 N. Clark St. on Dec. 20 and Feb. 1; and 1555 N. Damen on Feb. 22. The tape the robber wore in those heists does not exactly match the tape from the most recent bank robbery.

Acox has been ordered held without bail until a hearing on Thursday in federal court.